Category: Zero Waste

It’s officially fall! My absolute favorite season of the year. Give me all the “basic” — sweaters, pumpkin spice, candles, pumpkin decor. I have no shame. But truly. I love this time of year — the anticipation of upcoming holidays (including my favorite, Thanksgiving), the camaraderie behind football, respite from 100+ degree days, quiet weekends spent baking and reading, abundance at the farmer’s market, the State Fair of Texas… the list goes on. With all that goes on this time of year, sometimes it can be difficult to remember your New Year’s resolution from January that involved producing less waste. Never fear. Here are a few small things you can keep in mind this fall season to keep your trash bins from overflowing.

Pie: I associate fall with a lot of pie baking. I know it’s easier to get the pre-made pie crust, wrapped in plastic, stuck in a box… but hear me out. Making your own pie crust is super easy, faster than you think, and very delicious. I know there are a lot of recipes out there but I use this one due to it’s simplicity.

PSL: I love popping into coffee shops during the fall and trying out all the fun new drinks. However, as we all know, it’s best to take your own cup to avoid sending the coffee shop cups to the landfill. I recently bought this Kate Spade tumbler secondhand and LOVE it. Hot or cold drinks — the exterior stays dry and comfortable, the drinks stays the perfect temperature for hours, and it doesn’t leak.

Candles: With the amount of candles I burn this time of year, it’s a habit that can get very wasteful. The lids are seldom recyclable and the glass container needs to be completely emptied of wax before recycling. Enter the DIY candles. I LOVE making my own candles. I’ve saved old empty candle jars and constantly refill them with my own soy wax (warmed in a thrifted enamel pot) + scent concoction (bought in large quantities from CandleScience). The only waste I end up with when making candles is the large bag the wax comes sealed in (I buy a very large bag once every two years) and the recyclable bottle that the candle scent comes in (it’s best to buy a large bottle or two of a scent you love and use it up over a year or two; I use approximately 1 oz. of fragrance per large candle).

Decor: Look. I’m guilty of having 10 of those mini ceramic pumpkins from Target’s dollar section and an adorable stuffed ghost (named Boo) from HomeGoods. I’m only human. But the quality is good and I’ll be using them for years. Otherwise, for my fall decor, I use what I can find out in nature or at the farmer’s market (which I then compost at the end of the season). I’ve collected fallen branches to create a spooky entryway for Halloween, large leaves in different colors for table/wall decor, and interesting looking pumpkins from the farmer’s market for the fireplace. The best part about this decorating method is that I don’t have to store any of this stuff afterwards as it all goes in my compost bin! (And I’m free to switch up my style without feeling guilty about not using what I have.)

Sweaters and outerwear: Who doesn’t love a cozy sweater? However, over time, loved sweaters can get snagged and hole-y. But before you send it off to your local textile recycling, see if you can fix it! Darning is a technique to repair holes in different fabrics. Learn how here or here. If that’s too much or your sweater is beyond repair — head to your local thrift store. While secondhand t-shirts can sometimes feel worn out or faded, I’ve had great luck with sweaters and outerwear. Even if secondhand, they are frequently in great condition and I’ve always been able to find a cute sweater or two at my local shop for under $5.

I love TerraCycle’s free recycling programs. It allows me to recycle items that otherwise would end up in the landfill. This doesn’t mean that I purposely pick a packaged item over a bulk one in order to TerraCycle it BUT it is exceedingly useful for those items that I don’t have much of an alternative for. TerraCycle also has paid programs (where you pay for a box to fill up with various items and then ship back to them to recycle) but I’ve had great experiences with the free programs. Some programs do have a waitlist but I’ve gotten into most within a few months. So how does it work? Browse the programs and sign up for the ones that interest you. Collect items to recycle, put everything in an old cardboard box, print a pre-paid shipping label from the TerraCycle site, and drop off at UPS! That’s it. And it’s all free. So here are my favorite programs that I’m currently a part of:

Note: Some of these programs accept packaging only of a certain brand while others accept all brands so definitely read through the accepted items list for each program. In addition, while most programs involve shipping, there are a handful that involve dropping off your recycling at a specific retail location.

Wellness Pet Food Recycling Program: This was a happy coincidence since my dogs eat Holistic Select food (part of the Wellness brand) so I am able to recycle the plastic dog food bags we get.

Burt’s Bees Recycle on Us: I don’t really get a lot of Burt’s Bees products these days, however, I do have some old items from my pre-minimal-waste days. Once these are used up, I’ll send them via this program!

Malt-O-Meal Cereal Bag Recycling Program: While we don’t get bagged cereal, we do get the boxes. I save the plastic cereal bag liners to recycle through this program. This program accepts all brands of cereal bags.

Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program: I recycle toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothbrush outer packaging, and floss containers of all brands through this program (great for all those oral care items I’ve accrued from my dentist over the years).

Snack Bag Recycling Program: Chips, cookies, candy snack bags of all brands get shipped via this program. Great if you have kids who eat those little snack sized chip bags.

Subaru Recycling Program: We have a Subaru so this is particularly easy since we can recycle whenever we’re at the dealership for an oil change. But Subaru retailers now have TerraCycle boxes to recycle all disposable cups and lids, candy and snack wrappers, and coffee, tea, and creamer capsules. I don’t use capsules but I do save any candy/snack wrappers and cups/lids that come my way in order to recycle at the dealership.

L’Occitane Recycling Program: This is a new one that I haven’t used yet. But I am super excited by it! It appears you can take all skincare and makeup packaging of any brand to your local L’Occitane store for recycling. Has anyone done this yet? Let me know!

And finally, some eco-friendly tips for TerraCycling:
– Ship as much as possible at once. For example, don’t ship one toothpaste container at a time. Collect everything in a box and ship once or twice a year. Or, collect items to recycle from friends and family to bulk up more frequent shipments.
– Save old boxes and packaging to ship everything. Amazon boxes are great for this.
– Make sure everything you ship is clean, dry, and empty as not to contaminate the rest of the shipment.

Continuing on with our little eco-friendly swap series… we’re on to the laundry room! I think the laundry is one of easiest areas to make eco-friendly swaps because there are so many good, effective alternatives.

The item: Liquid laundry detergent in plastic jug
The swap: Powder detergent in box
I personally love the JR Watkins powder detergent (linked above). It’s a bit tough to find but it’s usually available somewhere online. One box lasts me about 9 months and it’s worked just as well as my old Tide detergent.

The item: Dryer sheets
The swap: Wool dryer balls + essential oils
Another super easy swap. A couple drops of essential oils on a wool dryer ball and you have lovely smelling, dry laundry! I particularly love using peppermint essential oil during the winter when drying my bedding. Smells like Christmas! I’ve had my dryer balls for 2 years now and they are still going strong.

The item: Lint roller
The swap: Lint brush
As a triple dog owner, this is a necessity but the sheets are super wasteful. I’m still using up the last of my bulk lint rollers but plan on switching over to reusable lint brushes. Anyone else use these?

The item: Hand wash soap in plastic jug
The swap: Dr. Bronner’s Bar Soap
I see all these different, fancy “hand wash” soaps to use for delicate items. But honestly, the very multi-use Dr. Bronner’s bar soap works just fine when washing clothes in my bathroom sink.

The item: Washing clothes in hot water
The swap: Okay. So that wasn’t an item. BUT it’s an eco-friendly tip. Only wash in hot water if absolutely necessary (i.e. you need to really sanitize something). I’ve never had issues with using only cold water and it’s much better for your clothes and the environment.

Last week, we talked eco-friendly kitchen swaps. And this week, we’re drilling down even further to food specific swaps! We all know that if you can find a specific item in the bulk section (grains, spices, oil/vinegar, tea/coffee, candy/chocolate, baking ingredients), you should go for that and stick it in your own containers. But here are some other food items that usually aren’t in the bulk aisle that I’ve found some alternatives for.

The item: Yogurt in plastic container
The swap: Yogurt in glass containers
My husband goes through A LOT of yogurt. Which also means a lot of plastic cartons. I found this brand at Whole Foods and Central Market that sells their (delicious) yogurt in large glass jars. Bonus — I reuse the jars afterwards for storage. Also — if you want a single serving yogurt option — Yoplait now has cute little French style glass jars.

The item: Bags of frozen berries
The swap: Pick your own berries or buy at the farmer’s market when in season and then freeze away!
I pick enough blueberries during the summer to last an entire year for smoothie, jam, and pie making. Strawberries are a little tougher since I haven’t found a pick your own farm nearby. BUT I’ve been able to snag strawberries without any packaging at the farmer’s market (and occasionally at Central Market) to then freeze for later.

The item: Bread in a plastic bag
The swaps: Make your own bread or pick up from the bakery section in your own bag
I have a bread machine that I use to make my own bread about half the time. However, if I am looking for a specific type of bread that I don’t have the ingredients to make, I just grab a package free loaf from the bakery section at Central Market and stick it in an old pillowcase.

The item: Ice cream in a carton (these cartons are usually not recyclable unless your city specifically mentions it)
The swap: DIY ice cream
I have an old ice cream maker given to me by a friend. That + the 4 ingredients required to make vanilla ice cream allows me to have delicious, fresh, ice cream any time I want. And you can have fun creating your own flavors using the vanilla base!

ICYMI — 2 weeks ago I wrote about my top 5 eco-friendly bathroom swaps. So now it’s time to move on to the kitchen! First up — let’s talk about those kitchen cleaning and organization items (food items are a whole other story!).

The item: Paper towels
The swaps: Cloth napkins (or IKEA dish towels) for dining and old tea towels for spills, cleaning, etc.
I found our cloth napkins at Homegoods years ago (but you can also cut up an old sheet and hem the edges if you want to be extra conscious). I also find cloth napkins to just feel a bit more special so it’s a win-win. And old tea towels, hand towels, microfiber rags are all used for any kitchen cleaning required. Basically — I don’t buy paper towels at all anymore.

The item: Dishwasher detergent packets
The swaps: Bulk detergent or powder detergent in a cardboard box
I was able to get my hands on bulk detergent from Refill Revolution (they shipped it to me in a little pouch (with a stamp on it) that I just stuck back in the mailbox after I emptied it out into my own container. However, they’ve been sold out for a while now and I have yet to see bulk detergent in the Dallas area. My backup is the eco-friendly powder detergent that comes in a recyclable cardboard box.

The item: Dish soap in a plastic bottle
The swaps: Dish soap in a glass bottle
I did really try to just use a bar soap (like Dr. Bronner’s) to hand wash dishes BUT it just left too much white residue… so ultimately, you ended up wasting water just to keep rinsing away all the residue. I managed to snag normal dish soap in glass bottles at my local Homegoods/TJMaxx. The pump mechanism is plastic but I will be sending that one piece to TerraCycle. I’ve also heard of Common Good products — they have refill stations across the country and now you can get refills shipped to you in containers that utilize much less plastic than buying new bottles each time.

The item: Conventional sponges
The swaps: Redecker Dish Brush and cellulose sponges
I love my Redecker dish brush… the brush heads are replaceable and compostable so wins all around! Cellulose sponges are also compostable — I’ve found some at Trader Joe’s. I also recently came across walnut scouring pads online!

The item: Plastic tupperware
The swaps: Glass or metal canisters
Listen — if you already have a ton of plastic tupperware. USE IT. Don’t go out and buy new stuff. However, if your tupperware is on it’s last leg and you need new food storage options — make the switch over (after recycling the old stuff) to glass or metal. These options last significantly longer and don’t tend to get as gross as the plastic options over time. And honestly, you can just start saving glass jars from peanut butter, pickles, coconut oil, whatever else you buy and reuse those as storage for all your bulk items. And speaking of bulk items… we’ll talk more about that next week!

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About

Howdy! I'm Meera. I'm a native Texan, a general badass, wife, doggo mom x 3, world traveler, and minimalist with zero waste aspirations. When not working as a grants manager at an awesome non-profit, I read an excessive number of YA books, play with my adorable puppers, constantly rearrange our home, and travel the world with my lovely husband.

You'll find me writing (solely for fun!) about my adventures in minimalism, zero waste, house sprucing, traveling, food, finances, and self care -- all while trying to live the simple life.